Book Review: Daily Wisdom for Men 2022 Devotional Collection

Daily Wisdom for Men 2022 Devotional Collection by Barbour Staff
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I received this daily devotional book as a Christmas last year and frankly, I tried my best to find something substantive from it however it was either too generic or stretching the chosen texts a little bit too much. After a job change in the middle of the year upsetting my scheduling I found myself skimming entries after forgetting to read the book for a week and soon became ‘catching’ up at the end of the month.

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Book Review: Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence by Grover S. Krantz

Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence: The Anthropologist Speaks Out by Grover S. Krantz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Considered one of the original “four horsemen” and the only one to have full academic qualifications, Dr. Grover S. Krantz is one of the most important figures in the search for a native North American ape. Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence: The Anthropologist Speaks Out is Grover S. Krantz looking at the evidence he’s studied since 1965 to conclude that there is a nonhuman bipedal in North America.

Originally published in 1992 and republished with an addendum in 1999, Krantz looked at the evidence supporting the existence of Sasquatch in the first two-thirds of the original book from looking at the footprint evidence and then analyzing the Patterson-Gimlin film subject and all the evidence pointing to its authenticity of a real animal. The final third of the original text was Krantz looking at evidence of other unknown bipedal animals from around the world and examining those researching Sasquatch. Three academic articles that Krantz wrote were added at the end of the original book followed by the 1999 addendum that Krantz addressed major and minor developments but doing so by following chapter title of the original edition and inserting information there thus giving these added pages a nice structure. Overall Krantz is an academic writer and while he gets the information across his style is boring—he is not a Jeff Meldrum, who is referenced a lot in the addendum, that can be academic for the general reader—however that doesn’t mean that the book is bad just not amazing.

Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence is an academic’s look into the possibility of a bipedal ape in North America, Dr. Grover S. Krantz is a thorough writer though very lively in his delivery.

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Book Review: Decision in Philadelphia by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier

Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787 by Christopher Collier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A young nation shook off the colonial chains of its European mother country, but in doing so it created financial and political upheaval internally as well as looking weak on the world stage so 55 men from across the nation gathered in a last-ditch attempt to save their nation. Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787 by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier is a history of the meeting in a hot Philadelphia summer of the men who completed the American Revolution.

The Colliers telling of the Constitutional Convention began with how the meeting came about and the major figures that has helped bring it out and would attend. The Colliers followed the proceedings of the Convention through topic and not day-to-day retelling, thus allowing them to show how the Constitution was created through the various conflicts between the delegates first between “big” and “small” states (based on population) and then the section conflict between North and South especially in connecting slavery and economic issues. Throughout the book the authors reminded their readers to remember the men at the Convention were not looking at things from a 20th Century perspective—the book was published in advance of the 200th Anniversary of the Convention—but from the events of their lives in the latter half of the 18th Century as well as their prejudices, but also how in the Convention the participants changed their way of thinking of political philosophy. Yet the authors while praising the work the men of the Convention did were not above criticism of the final document that they elaborated on in the final chapter.

Decision in Philadelphia is a good look into how the Constitution of the United States was created, the brothers Collier together produced a well-written history of the document that founded the American government.

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Book Review: Mistborn: Secret History by Brandon Sanderson

Mistborn: Secret History by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Survivor, the man whose sacrifice led to the downfall of the Lord Ruler and freedom for the oppressed skaa on Scadrial, died in the first book of the original Mistborn trilogy. Mistborn: Secret History by Brandon Sanderson follows Kelsier after death during the events of the climax of the first novel and then Well of Ascension and The Hero of Ages.

Throughout the original trilogy, the reader knew Vin’s life was being influenced by greater forces that were playing out on a different plain or Realm and in this novella the reader learns that Kelsier prevented himself from going to the Cosmere’s afterlife (the Beyond). Then we follow Kelsier through the background events of the next two books from the Well of Ascension to the final showdown as the Hero of Ages emerges. The supernatural elements of the Cosmere are explained, especially those specific to Scadrial, and other characters from the Cosmere appear for knowledgeable readers through are also intriguing introductions for beginning readers. Absolutely this should be read only after finishing the Mistborn trilogy.

Mistborn: Secret History is exactly that, the now revealed background events that affected Vin’s story in the original trilogy.

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Book Review: What If? 2 edited by Robert Cowley

What If? 2: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been by Robert Cowley
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The path untrodden, counterfactual reality, or simply alternate history. Twenty-five of the 20th Century’s eminent historians look at what might have been in the essay anthology What If? 2 edited by contributor Robert Cowley.

The twenty-five essays range from 424 B.C. in Ancient Greece to the 1948 Elections in the United States covering a variety of topics though for roughly 300 of the 430 pages covered the time between 1912 and 1948. Unlike the previous volume, many of the essays focused on the actual event than going into an alternative scenario or would briefly speculate about things happening differently in the last two paragraphs. The essays that focused on the assignment that were good were Thomas K. Rabb’s essay on Charles I dying in 1641 of the plague and adverting the English Civil War, Alistair Horne’s fanciful piece on Napoleon III not taking Otto von Bismark’s bait to advert the Franco-Prussian war, George Feifer’s essay on Lenin on influencing the Russian Revolution, and Richard B. Frank’s essay on if the United States hadn’t dropped the atomic bombs.

What If? 2: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been is an interesting set of essays, a lot are knowledgeable for someone who doesn’t know specific points talked about however the “alternate” aspect was lacking compared to the previous collection.

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Book Review: Zodiac of Death by Don Lasseter and Dana Holliday

Zodiac of Death by Don Lasseter
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Zodiac of Death is a collection of mini biographies of some of the most notorious killers in the 20th Century written by true crime reporter Dan Lasseter followed an explanation of their horoscope that astrologist Dana Holliday attempts to explain as fulfilling the individual’s destiny. After reading the first individual’s biography and horoscope, I instantly decided to skip all the rest of the horoscopes as I did not understand anything written and didn’t want to waste my time with the rest of the book figuring those sections out. That meant I was reading the mini biographies—basically life and crimes in “wonderful” detail—of some of the worst human beings who’ve walked the earth and frankly I wanted to get through it as quickly as possible to get this book off my shelf and to a used book store.

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Book Review: The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A once-glorious empire has been shattered, petty-kings from within look to take over as much as they can while the former rulers of the lands look to reconquer, and everyone is looking to the new tribesmen on the horizon that look to repeat what the now defunct dynasty did. The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay is a historical fantasy that follows the lives several individuals—famous and unknown—in the dying of one era and the beginning of another in the land they call home.

Taking clear inspiration from history of Moorish Spain, Kay weaves a story of people attempting to live the best they can in a rapidly changing world that divides them both religiously and politically. Though the religions practiced are clearly analogs to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism they are defined enough to be their own unique thing in the world Kay created as well as how characters take their faith from in name only to zealotry. The political intrigue throughout the book and how characters deal with the effects of the events helps move the plot—along with religious strife—in relation with their own hopes and fears creating a compelling narrative over 500 pages that keep the reader glued. Kay’s prose and in places effective use of poetry is engaging so much so that I look forward to getting my hands on other books of his.

The Lions of Al-Rassan features analogs of real life religions and history, however Guy Gavriel Kay uses those elements and a touch of fantasy to weave together an amazing narrative that keeps the reader hooked from beginning to end.

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